Somar Musahary looks a weather beaten grey headed man with a bloated face betraying his age. Just 45 years old Musahary looks a 65 year plus old man. A farmer with a small land holding in his village, the 5 feet 2 inches tall man hails from Sonapur village in Dangshiapara post office area of Chirang district in western Assam.
Hailing from Bijni area of Chirang, one of the four districts of Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD), Musahary’s village has no electricity.
He has all his life lived in the district once dominated by notorious militant outfits like NDFB, ULFA, BLT, KRLO, AANLA, and COBRA Militants. Today thanks to persistent interactions with the students and army (CRPF and SSB) has helped the district administration to dominate the area, and pave the way for developmental activities.
Musahary was one of ten people, among whom were three ladies, who had ten-days free training in house wiring, inverter making and installation at Assam Don Bosco University’s School of Technology at Azara campus.
Oldest member of the group, Musahary sat with educated un-employed youth in their twenties and learned basic skills in electric energy management.
Christened Swabalamban-2015 (self-reliance), in its second year, the program which started off on 23rd November concluded on 3rd December. It aims at skilling youth in just ten days in a trade so that they begin earning their livelihood.
While the Social Work department of the university mobilized students by disseminating information to the villagers, selecting trainees, and following up on the post training activities, the Electrical and Communication Engineering department trained students on assembling simple inverters, as well as their installation and maintenance.
The Electronic and Electrical Engineering department trained students on electrical house wiring.
During the first four days, Musahary learned house wiring followed by another four days of inverter making, which was followed by two days learning inverter installation.
“It was a very fascinating learning experience for me,” said Musahary a Bodo tribesman speaking in a mixture of Hindi, Assamese and Bengali languages. He claimed he could also speak in English.
“Yes, I can build electric inverter and do house wiring not only for my own home, but also for other people in the village,” Musahary assured the audience in his valedictory words at the program concluding ceremony where each participant received a certificate as well as solar panel, inverter with battery, a CFL 8 watt electric bulb, and electrical tool kit.
“I am mighty happy to take home the electric bulb and power supply unit as my son will be in class X next year and he can study at night to prepare well for the board exams,” said Musahary proud of his achievement.
Musahary’s dream is to send his son to an Engineering college on merit scholarship.
The free training program conducted in collaboration with Azara Gaon Panchayat was sponsored by a US based Non Resident Indian NGO called Oakokho.com.
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